HS2 Ltd HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis January 2012
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis Contents 1 Introduction 1 Page 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Historical Context and This Report 1 1.3 Reference documents 3 1.4 Appendices 3 2 Assumptions 4 2.1 Reference Train 4 2.2 Dwell time 4 2.3 Factored Linespeeds 4 2.4 Train Timing Locations 5 2.5 Speed restrictions at Old Oak Common 6 2.6 Linespeeds at West Midlands Delta Junction 6 2.7 Alignment data between Rugeley and Lichfield North Junction 6 2.8 Direction of Travel 6 3 Methodology 7 4 Findings 9 4.1 Modelling Software 9 4.2 Journey Time Results 9 4.3 Differences between Options 10 5 Conclusions 12 Appendices Appendix A London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street Train Speed Distance Profiles A1 A2 Non-stopping Service Stopping Services Appendix B London Euston to WCML Train Speed Distance Profiles B1 B2 Non-stopping Services Stopping Services
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 1 Introduction 1.1 Background This report describes a series of journey time tests on several HS2 route options from London Euston to the West Midlands and West Coast Main Line (WCML) connection north of Lichfield. These route options have been developed to provide journey time data (to which this report refers) as well as providing engineering detail for capital cost assessments, and providing shape files for environmental / sustainability appraisal. The options considered, as well as the Consultation Route 3, are shown on Figure 1 on the following page. 1.2 Historical Context and This Report Prior to the announcement of Route 3 as the Secretary of State s Consultation Route, work had been done in 2009 on many other route options, of which the following are particularly relevant to this report: Route 2 a route characterised as the M40 / Chiltern Railway Corridor route; Route 5 a route characterised as the M1 route. These two routes had been designed in CAD (rather than a full alignment programme such as InRail) but this was entirely consistent with the level of design development of all route options at the time. The alignments had not attempted to provide a smooth line-speed profile, so the longitudinal profile of speeds appears (in retrospect) as rather jagged and saw-toothed. The current work has calculated journey times under this jagged profile. This work is referred to later in this report as the 2009 work. As part of this work, Routes 2 and 5 were re-visited, with a view to designing a much more realistic and smoother line-speed profile, with a 300kph target design speed. This work is referred to later in this report as the 2011 work. Also, as part of this work, the 400kph Route 3 was re-examined to identify selected and discrete alignment changes where a 360kph or 300kph design speed requirement might offer environmental or other benefits. In summary, therefore, this report addresses 6 route options; Route 2 as at 2009 Route 2 as at 2011 Route 5 as at 2009 Route 5 as at 2011 Route 3 at 360kph Route 3 at 300kph Page 1
Figure 1 HS2 Route Options for Journey Time Analysis [ Route 2 (2011) Route 2 (2009) Consultation Route 3 for 300kph Consultation Route 3 for 360kph Route 3 (Preferred Route) Route 5 (2011) Route 5 (2009)
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis In this journey time report, times for these six routes were calculated in the analysis program Dynamis using the alignment data for each route option. They were then compared against the previous (2009) journey times for the Consultation Route 3. This report lists all assumptions made for running time calculations and presents the journey times calculated for 24 representative train runs. 1.3 Reference documents Spreadsheets defining the alignment for each route option: Route 2 2009 & 2011 timing spreadsheets Route 5 2009 & 2011 timing spreadsheets Consultation Route 300km/h alignment timing spreadsheet Consultation Route 360km/h alignment timing spreadsheets AGV full speed ahead into the 21 st century, Alstom (see http://www.alstom.com/assetmanagement/downloadasset.aspx?id=4c295 5a3-585e-4227-93fdc2dbf3a0fb7a&version=ca2549b3abf04700aebb1f35f7bd8d793.pdf) 1.4 Appendices The report contains 2 appendices containing the journey time plots of the coded line speed, and the achieved train speed. Appendix A concerns runs from London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street, while Appendix B contains data for Euston to the WCML connection. Page 3
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 2 Assumptions In consultation with HS2 Ltd, the following assumptions were made for journey time calculations. 2.1 Reference Train It was assumed that the high speed train used for journey time calculations will consist of two coupled AGV-11 car units, and run to a maximum speed of 360 km/h. Each unit is 200 metres long with a total weight of 410 tonnes. Both the tractive effort-speed curve and the resistance-speed curve are provided by Alstom, see Figure 2. Figure 2 The AGV-11 tractive effort curve and resistance curve Passenger load has been assumed as 82.5 tonnes in total (1100 passengers at 75kg each). The assumed service braking rate has been set as 0.78m/s2. A traction performance factor of 95% has been adopted in simulations in line with Network Rail s RailSys standards. This is applied to both the acceleration and braking rates. 2.2 Dwell time Where applicable, dwell time at stations (Old Oak Common and Birmingham Interchange) has been assumed at 2 minutes. 2.3 Factored Linespeeds In line with guidance from HS2 Ltd, the maximum permissible linespeeds were reduced in order to provide performance and engineering allowances in the timings. The scale of these reductions is summarised below and follows the approach to calculating journey times on the French high speed network. Page 4
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis Permissible (km/h) Table 1 Factored linespeeds used in journey time calculations It should be noted that the application of this factoring is such that, for instance: linespeed 0-79 No change a design speed of 200kph is coded at 180kph, and the Reference Train can attain that 180kph speed, subject to acceleration and braking performance; and a design speed of 360kph is coded as 330kph, and the train attains 330kph (i.e. it still has a performance buffer). By the same logic a design speed of 400kph should be coded at 370kph. In this case, though, the train would be able to attain its maximum speed of 360kph and there would not be a performance buffer. A further assumption is, therefore, that the train s speed is capped at 330kph to provide a performance buffer in this case. 2.4 Train Timing Locations Factored maximum speed to be used in journey time calculations (km/h) 80-119 10 less than actual permissible speed 120-249 20 less than actual permissible speed Above 250 30 less than actual permissible speed When running times are calculated, train timings at junctions have been taken where the head of the train reaches the divergence point. In stations, they have been taken when the head of the train starts/arrives from/at the appropriate stop board. The following locations were used as timing points. It should be noted that chainages for these timing locations will vary by route - the table below presents the chainages on Route 3. It should also be noted that the distances below are measured from the buffer stops at London Euston and refer to the head of the train. Location London Euston Old Oak Common Birmingham Interchange Delta South Junction Delta North Junction Lichfield North HS2 Junction (connection to the WCML) Rugeley North Junction (on the WCML) Delta West Junction Birmingham Curzon Street Table 2 Assumed timing points Down Direction Distance from Euston 0.430KM 9.400KM 156.850KM 160.704KM 165.133KM 191.500KM 198.856KM 164.491KM 175.230KM Page 5
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 2.5 Speed restrictions at Old Oak Common It was assumed that the permissive speed in the Old Oak Common station area will be 80km/h for 400 metres either side of the platform ends. See Figure 3. 80km/h 400m 400m Figure 3 Assumed speed restrictions at Old Oak Common 2.6 Linespeeds at West Midlands Delta Junction It was assumed that the maximum permissible speed for the Slow Lines in the West Midlands Delta Junction area will be 230km/h. 2.7 Alignment data between Rugeley and Lichfield North Junction It was assumed that the HS2 route will join the WCML 7.2km south of Rugeley North Junction; in line with the route presented at consultation. The alignment data between Rugeley North Junction and the newly formed Lichfield North Junction was taken from the Network Rail Five Mile Diagram and was assumed to remain unchanged from the current layout and permissible speeds. 2.8 Direction of Travel All journey times were calculated for the Down direction from London Euston. From previous model runs, the Up direction journey times will be very similar. For example, on the Consultation Route, Dynamis calculated only a 3 second difference between the two directions for fast trains running between London Euston and Rugeley North Junction on the WCML. Page 6
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 3 Methodology Journey times for the following six route options have been calculated. Route Option Route 2 2009 Saw Tooth design Route 2 2011 Design (smoothed profile) Route 5 2009 Saw Tooth design Route 5 2011 Design (smoothed profile) Route 3 (Consultation Route coded at 300 kph) Route 3 (Consultation Route coded at 360 kph) Features Speed varies due to 2009 alignment; speeds from Birmingham Interchange to WCML are the same as those in the Consultation Route. Maximum gradient on the route: 1:35. Maximum design speed 300kph; maximum gradient on the route: 1:39. Speed varies due to 2009 alignment; speeds from Birmingham Interchange to WCML are the same as those in the Consultation Route. Maximum gradient on the route: 1:43. Maximum design speed 300kph; maximum gradient on the route: 1:40. Consultation route with SA2, 4 and 5 inclusive incorporated; maximum design speed 300kph; maximum gradient on the route: 1:50. Consultation route with SA1 to SA6 inclusive incorporated; maximum design speed 360kph; maximum gradient on the route: 1:50. Tie-in points with the Consultation Route Route option start point = 8877.29 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point = 161366.98 Chains (154088.40 on the Consultation Route) Route option start point = 8877.29 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point = 161695.97 Chains (154088.40 on the Consultation Route) Route option start point = 8877.29 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point = 165214.14 Chains (154088.40 on the Consultation Route) Route option start point = 8877.29 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point =164248.38 Chains (154088.40 on the Consultation Route) Route option start point = 64260.48 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point = 140901.98 Chains (140754.41 on the Consultation Route) Route option start point = 47405.02 Chains on the Consultation Route; Route option end point = 159153.15 Chains (158751.44 on the Consultation Route) Table 3 HS2 London Euston to the WCML and West Midlands route options Remainder of the route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Alignments on the remainder of the route corridor are the same as those in the Consultation Route Page 7
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis A route profile was created in Dynamis for each route option, detailing the different permissible speeds and their start and finish points, and increases in the length of individual route sections. The gradient profiles were also incorporated in the simulations. It should be noted that some permissible speed profiles would not reflect a realistic profile which would be implemented in practice. Where a succession of changes in line speed profile are incorporated, the Reference Train attempts to utilise these to the maximum possible extent, resulting in a saw tooth speed profile. This approach minimises the journey time in the model. This raw speed profile was used for the purposes of this report, but if implemented in practice many of the short-length higher speed sections would be eliminated to produce a flat and constant maximum permissible and driveable speed along the route. This could be expected to increase the journey times to a small extent probably only a few seconds in most cases. In the tables that follow, the term non-stopping refers to trains which serve Euston station, Old Oak Common station, and Birmingham Curzon Street station. They do not stop at Birmingham Interchange. Stopping refers to trains which serve all four stations on the route, including Birmingham Interchange. HS2 Ltd s current service specification assumption is that all trains on day one travelling to Birmingham Curzon Street would also stop at Birmingham Interchange, i.e. all Birmingham services would be stopping. Train Runs London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street London Euston to WCML Train 1 Train 2 Train 3 Train 4 Route Non-stopping Stopping Non-stopping Stopping London Euston Start Start Start Start Old Oak Common Stop Stop Stop Stop Birmingham Interchange Pass Stop Pass Stop Delta Junction South Pass Pass Pass Pass Delta Junction North - - Pass Pass Birmingham Curzon Street Stop Stop - - Lichfield North HS2 Junction (for WCML) Rugeley North Junction (on the WCML) - - Pass Pass - - Pass Pass Table 4 Train runs used for running time calculations for each route option Page 8
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 4 Findings 4.1 Modelling Software It should be noted that the 2009 work used the simulation package VISION. There are differences between the algorithms used in the 2 packages, and there have been some refinement of the gradient profiles. This has resulted in Dynamis and VISION producing differing timings for what is essentially the same railway and this should be noted when understanding any quoted timings. The 2009 VISION timings varied from Dynamis timings (for the 4 runs considered) between 21 seconds and 65 seconds. 4.2 Journey Time Results The table below presents the Dynamis journey times for four train runs per route. Train Runs London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street Route London Euston to WCML Train 1 Train 2 Train 3 Train 4 Journey times (mm:ss)/ Length of the route (km) Route 2 as at 2009 Route 2 as at 2011 Route 5 as at 2009 Route 5 as at 2011 Route 3 at 300kph Route 3 at 360kph Stopping Nonstopping Nonstopping Length of the route 182.079 205.705 Stopping Running time 52:04 55:49 54:08 59:12 Length of the route 182.408 206.034 Running time 51:59 55:44 54:51 59:25 Length of the route 185.926 209.552 Running time 53:44 57:29 55:21 60:52 Length of the route 184.960 208.586 Running time 51:25 55:10 54:08 58:51 Length of the route 174.948 198.574 Running time 49:38 53:23 52:20 57:03 Length of the route 175.202 198.828 Running time 45:17 49:02 46:53 52:24 Table 5 Journey times calculated using the factored down linespeeds on each route The speed-distance profiles for each train run are shown in the attached appendices, alongside the profile for the Consultation Route 3. It should be noted that these graphs were produced using the factored linespeeds as described in Section 2.3, and are only for the purpose of running time calculations. In addition, the distances shown in the speed-distance profiles refer to train travelling distances from the origin station where the travelling distance starts at zero metres. Some of the profiles show sudden dips in the speed of the train. These are caused by changes in the gradient of the route. Page 9
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 4.3 Differences between Options Compared to the Consultation Route, the differences in the route lengths and journey times for the six alternative HS2 routes are listed in table 6 below. Route/Train Runs London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street London Euston to WCML Train 1 Train 2 Train 3 Train 4 Stopping Nonstopping Nonstopping Stopping Extra journey times (mm:ss)/ extra route length (km) compared to those in the Consultation Route ConsultationRoute Route 2 as at 2009 Route 2 as at 2011 Route 5 as at 2009 Route 5 as at 2011 Route 3 at 300kph Route 3 at 360kph Route length 174.800 198.426 Running time 45:14 48:59 46:50 52:21 Extra route length 7.279km Extra running time 06:50 07:18 06:51 Extra route length 7.608km Extra running time 06:45 08:01 07:04 Extra route length 11.126km Extra running time 08:30 08:31 08:31 Extra route length 10.160km Extra running time 06:11 07:18 06:30 Extra route length 0.148km Extra running time 04:24 05:30 04:42 Extra route length Table 6 Results comparison 0.402km Extra running time 00:03 00:03 00:03 All the six routes considered are longer and some have some reduced linespeeds compared to the Consultation Route. All journey times are therefore longer than the Consultation Route. For the London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street train services, the difference in journey times compared with the Consultation Route will be the same regardless of the train stopping pattern at Birmingham Interchange station. This is because: Alignment changes proposed were only for the section between Old Oak Common and the approach to Birmingham Interchange. On this section, train running is unaffected by stopping patterns, and non-stopping and stopping services run at identical speeds. Given the same alignment proposed in each route option, changes to the sectional running times will be the same. There are no changes to the infrastructure beyond the approach to Birmingham Interchange. Between Birmingham Interchange and Birmingham Curzon Street the same configuration of Slow Line will be utilised by both types of train services, and therefore the journey from this Page 10
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis point onwards to Curzon Street will be identical to the Consultation Route. For the London Euston to the WCML train services, changes to the journey times will not only be related to linespeed reduction, but also to train stopping pattern at Birmingham Interchange station. Journey time increases to the non-stopping trains will be larger than those for the stopping services. This is because on the section from Birmingham Interchange to Delta North Junction: Stopping trains that call at Birmingham Interchange will operate on the Slow Line, which is limited to 230km/h. Considering distances required for deceleration and acceleration, stopping trains will only need to operate a short distance (at proposed linespeed) on the mainline before approaching the HS2 WCML connection. Therefore, for stopping train services the impact of changed maximum permissible speeds will be relatively minor on this section. Non-stopping trains will operate on the mainline only. Where there are speed restrictions on the mainline compared to the Consultation Route these will have a relatively greater impact on train operations, leading to larger running time differences. Page 11
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis 5 Conclusions The main conclusions are as follows, on the 2011 tests (which are the more realistic engineering alignments): Route 2 (M40/Chiltern) would be characterised as being about 6¾ 8 minutes slower than the Consultation Route 3; Route 5 (M1) would be characterised as being about 6 7½ minutes slower than the Consultation Route 3; Route 3 at 300km/h will be slower by between 4¼ and 5½ minutes; and Route 3 at 360km/h will have the same journey time (technically 3 seconds slower) as the Consultation Route 3. Page 12
Appendix A London Euston to Birmingham Curzon Street Train Speed Distance Profiles
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis A1 Non-stopping Service Page A1
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis A2 Stopping Services Page A2
Appendix B London Euston to WCML Train Speed Distance Profiles
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis B1 Non-stopping Services Page B1
High Speed 2 Limited HS2 London to West Midlands Route Corridor Reviews Journey Time Analysis B2 Stopping Services Page B2